Stefan Kaierle has been appointed the executive director of nonprofit research institute Laser Zentrum Hannover eV (LZH), succeeding Ludger Overmeyer, who takes over as chairman of the scientific directorate. Kaierle studied electrical engineering and received his doctorate in mechanical engineering from RWTH Aachen University. From 1998 to 2011, he headed the system technology department at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology in Aachen. Since 2012, he has been the head of the materials and processes department at the LZH. The materials and processes department is now led by Jörg Hermsdorf, who has been working at the LZH since 2001. The LZH is supported by the Lower Saxony Ministry for Economics, Labour and Transport and is dedicated to the promotion of applied research in the field of photonics and laser technology.